1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an aerating device and more particularly to a system for introducing oxygen into said circulating water within a live bait bucket or other such device that would be attached to or carried on a boat or a land vehicle. The aerating device is operated by air movement relative to the motion of the vehicle on which it is carried.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, devices for supplying oxygen to small, contained volumes of water such as bait buckets, fish tanks or the like, particularly when in transit, have been directed to electrically driven means and when stationary, to holes in an outer or inner bucket or other container through which lake, river, or ocean water can flow. The latter containers are pertinent to the invention since they must be transported to or from the shore, dock or boat to ensure that an adequate amount of oxygen is supplied when removed from or carried to the water environment. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,785 to Lambourn concerns an aerated live bait bucket having a bottom appendage which contains battery-operated aerating equipment. The appendage is adapted to admit ambient air which is forced by a bellows through a vertical passageway in a tube or other conduit that is inserted in sealed relationship through the bottom of the bucket, this passageway terminating in a check valve disposed within the bucket which permits unidirectional flow only of air into the bucket.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,862,634 to Surface discloses a bait container having a reduced volume upper chamber and a pivotable porous separating means adapted to separate the upper chamber from a main lower chamber so that, when inverted, fish or other bait are allowed to enter the upper chamber after which the separating means is actuated to confine the bait in the upper chamber. The confined bait is retrieved by hand when the container is returned to the upright position.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,790 to Ruggles concerns a floating bait bucket having a catamaran-shaped external hull which is perforated to allow the flow of water therethrough to refresh the bait in the twin hulls of the catamaran. Flow-through openings are formed in the ends of each of the twin hulls of the catamaran sides to allow the flow of water therethrough.
It can be readily appreciated that these references, either singly or in combination, do not suggest or infer the aerating device of the present invention which provides an ambient air driven propeller and shaft that provides reciprocating motion to a diaphragm equipped with a one-way valve for forcing air into a bait bucket or other container, no shown through a tube to an air stone or air brick confined in the bottom of the container. On depression, air is forced out of the diaphragm into the tube and from there down to, into, and through the air stone thereby aerating and circulating the water in the tank or container. On upward motion, the diaphragm is extended, drawing air through the one-way valve and repeating the cycle. Reviewing the cited U.S. patents, in Lambourn a battery operated bellows positioned beneath the bait bucket is required. The device in Surface relates only to retrieval of bait, while Ruggles is directed to providing aeration through flow-through openings in the twin hulls of a catamaran. The German patents are unrelated to aeration and disclose no structure or structures comparable to those of the present invention.